A Life lived by Power or by Promise

 April 18 2021

Acts 6:8-15, 7:44-60

         Have you ever thought about what it might be like to be the first to achieve something? I mean what must have it been like to be Magellan and be the first to sail completely around the world in a sailing ship? Or what kind of thrill must it have been for Sir Hilary to lay claim that he was the first one to climb to the top of Mount Everest? And we all remember that it was Alexander Graham Bell who was the first to send a voice message through the wires changing our world forever. There is something about being first that people quite naturally are in awe of. We all remember Neil Armstrong’s one small step for a man one giant leap for mankind as he was the first to step foot on the moon on a day in the summer of 1969 that none of us will forget. It is when something is first this is when that particular event is seared into our memories. I mean can anyone recall the second time someone stepped foot on the moon? Or does any one remember the name of the second person to reach the summit of Mount Everest? No, the ones who are remembered are the ones who went first, the ones who changed the course of history, the ones who expanded what we as humanity considered to be possible.

         Now, with all of this in mind we turn our thoughts to what is a first in the life of the church, the martyrdom of Stephen. We have to all admit it, don’t we, that this death of Stephen, the first death that happened because of a person’s faith in Jesus Christ, that this first seems vastly different from all of the other firsts that we celebrate, doesn’t it? I mean if we polled good church going folk as to just who was the first martyr of the church most of them I suspect probably could not name him and even if they could name him I suspect that they would not know why it was all that important to even know who had the distinction of being first. Yet, regardless of whether people recognize Stephen or not what is important in his death is that here was someone whose death perfectly echoed the death of Jesus. So, just as all the worldly firsts expand the range of human possibility, here in Stephen the range of human possibility is also expanded so that now we understood that not only could one live like Jesus but even more, one could also die like Jesus, offering themselves up willingly with forgiveness upon their lips. The importance of such a first is that it was a first that did not come about through power, through human efforts as so many of the firsts we remember have happened, but instead this was a first that happened because of faith in the rock solid promise of God. Stephen’s first then was one that happened through promise not power and that is why we should be in awe of his witness.

         What led to this witness of Stephen, what we call his martyrdom, which is merely the Greek word for witness, is what we read about in our scripture for today. The story begins with a good problem that the early church was facing, that being that there was an increase in the number of disciples.  This caught the early church off guard and they found that there were people who were being neglected not because of any meanness on anyone’s part but rather just because the church found themselves overwhelmed. Now, the ones who brought forth the complaint of neglect we are told is the group of Greek-speaking Jews. These were Jews who had previously lived in the many numerous countries that had been conquered by Greece and had taken up the habits and language of the Greeks. These Jews were contrasted with the group of Jews referred to as the Hebrews. These were the Jews who, so to speak, had never left home, people firmly planted in the land of Judaea. These were people who as their name suggests spoke the Hebrew language and were faithful Temple attendees unlike the Greek speaking Jews who found it difficult to make it back to Jerusalem to worship simply because of the distance involved. Yet, despite how difficult it was to travel to Jerusalem some made it back there and would live there and it was these elderly Greek speaking Jews who found themselves on the short end of the stick so to speak in the early churches efforts to show the love of Jesus. So, the twelve apostles called a church meeting and told the church to pick out seven men who could see to it that the poor would get fed regardless of whether they spoke Hebrew or Greek. Now, interestingly enough the men who were chosen to serve were all Greek speaking Jews perhaps as a nod to the fact that the complaint was brought up by Greek speaking Jews and therefore the problem would be solved by the calling forth of Greek speaking Jews. Stephen was one of the seven men who was chosen. What is also interesting is that what might seem to us to be a menial task without much spiritual significance was for the early church thought of much differently. They said that the men who would serve the food had to be those who had a good reputation, men who were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.The early church obviously understood that there was something extremely spiritual about serving food to others, that perhaps in the midst of waiting tables there was perhaps deeper conversations happening, perhaps even healings occurring as the poor came to receive their food. This is what is implied when we read that Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great signs and wonders among the people.  Now, in performing these miracles Stephen made himself an object of other peoples attention, people who did not understand that with the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus the whole world had been transformed. Now, the Holy Spirit that had anointed Jesus anointed all who professed faith in him. This Holy Spirit was the promised power from on high that Jesus had taught was going to be poured out on all people. It was this power that anointed Stephen and it was this power that it seems was the cause of those Jews, who were not believers in Jesus, to be irritated by what Stephen was doing. Most likely they knew that if people experienced this power for themselves than more and more people would come to be part of this Jesus movement leaving their old Jewish ways behind. The problem was that this same Holy Spirit that gave the power to heal others was also a power that gave Stephen the ability to refute the arguments of those who brought complaints against him. So, these evil men who had come against Stephen began to stir up trouble finding false witnesses to give a report that Stephen spoke against the holy place, the Temple and that Stephen spoke against the Law. They reportedly got this idea from what Stephen had spoke about Jesus, that Jesus had said that he would destroy the Temple and that Jesus was going to change the customs that Moses had given to them. Now, Jesus had never said any of these things. As we read in the second chapter of John, Jesus said destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up, referring to the Temple of his body. And in the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus also said that he came not to destroy the Law but instead to fulfill the Law. So, we know that these men who were resentful at the power resting upon Stephen had twisted the very words of Jesus in order to condemn Stephen.

         Well, at least Stephen was given the chance to try and defend himself. The way he does this is to give a rather lengthy sermon which traces the history of the people of Israel from the days of Abraham forward. Now, to reach the proper conclusion as to the point Stephen was trying to make from his lecture on the history of the people of Israel we need to fast forward to the end where Stephen condemns his condemners by telling them that they are stiff-necked people who were uncircumcised in heart and ears, people who always resist the Holy Spirit just as their fathers had done. When we understand this is the reason for his lengthy telling of the history of the people of Israel then we cannot but be in wonder that the Holy Spirit had always been present in the life of God’s people. We have to ask ourselves then just what the Holy Spirit was doing down through history that was constantly being rejected?  Perhaps what Paul wrote in the second chapter of his first letter to the church at Corinth may help us figure out what the Holy Spirit’s purpose was. There we read, “What God has prepared for those who love him God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything; even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit that is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.” This teaching of Paul helps us understand that what the history of the people of Israel could be thought of was God continually revealing himself to them in an ever greater degree. Even though he chose one man, Abraham, out of the world his hope always was that through this one man and his offspring the whole world would be no longer under the curse but instead experience the full blessing of God. What Abraham would discover is that this life of blessing came through trusting in the promise of God even in the face of uncertainty. What God was revealing to Abraham then was that he was a God who gives life to the dead and brings into existence those things which do not exist. Out of a man one hundred years old God brought a son who would be the beginning of the nation of Israel. What we see then throughout the life of the history of the descendants of Abraham is that in every situation God reveals himself to be a God who is to be trusted no matter how dire the circumstances. When Joseph found himself far from home, and afflicted in Egypt could God rescue him? The answer is that God did rescue him and God also gave Joseph favor and wisdom before Pharaoh. Then much later, God’s people found themselves enslaved by the Egyptians and they cried out to God and they wondered, could God set them free? The answer is yes, God could set them free and create a new people from them. Yet in spite of God’s continual demonstration of his power and his faithfulness to his promise, God’s people refused to place their trust in what the Holy Spirit had revealed to them. The people of Israel again and again refused to have faith in the God who was ever faithful to them. God desired that they would trust and obey him; this was more important to God than any empty worship ritual.

         Finally, Stephen gets to the mention of how the prophets had announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, the coming of Jesus. This just as God had done many times before was the Holy Spirit revealing the innermost depths of the heart of God, a God who desired to save all of the people of his creation. This revelation was given in its fullest and clearest vision in the life of Daniel. There in the seventh chapter of the book named for him is where we read of the one called the Son of Man. The reason that this vision is so important in understanding the promise and plan of God is that as you study the gospels, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man more times than any other title, even titles such as the Son of God and Christ or Messiah. Jesus again and again points his disciples back to the revelation given to Daniel. In his vision, Daniel saw the one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven. The phrase, “coming on the clouds of heaven” was a way of speaking about God because only God could ride the clouds like a chariot. So, what Daniel saw could best be described as a divine human. This divine human Daniel records came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. The Ancient of Days was again another way of speaking of the God of Israel. Then Daniel records that the Ancient of Days gave dominion, and glory  and a kingdom to this Son of Man so that all peoples, nations and languages might serve him. The dominion of this Son of Man, as Daniel records it, is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. As Stephen was about to be stoned to death, what was revealed to him through the Holy Spirit was a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God and when Stephen saw this he exclaimed, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”You see, there in a moment, the faith of Stephen became sight. He had faith that this Jesus who had been crucified and raised from the dead was the very same one that Daniel had seen in his vision. Stephen believed in what the Holy Spirit had revealed that Jesus was indeed the divine man who had  come from heaven and had been received back to heaven to stand before the Ancient of Days. It was this profession of faith by Stephen which outraged his accusers causing them to cast him out of the city and stone him.

         With the anger of this mob, Stephen then became the first witness, the first martyr of the church. Stephen endured the horrible pain of his death not by any feat of great human power but only through the faithfulness of the promise of God. You see, the reason the vision of the Son of Man was given to Daniel was that he and the people of Israel were enduring great suffering on account of their faith. The stories of Daniel include the faithful being thrown into the fiery furnace, and being thrown into the lion’s den. What gave hope to Daniel in these difficult days was the promise that the kingdom of the Son of Man was going to be the last kingdom standing. Not only that but what is also revealed to Daniel was that the kingdom of the Son of Man was going to be given to the saints of the most high. This is what Stephen believed. Stephen had faith that beyond these days of suffering and persecution there would be endless days for him and all the saints in the kingdom ruled by the Son of Man. Even though this kingdom did not yet exist in all its fullness, Stephen knew that his God was the God who could bring into existence those things which do not exist. This is what the Holy Spirit had continually revealed throughout the history of the people of Israel. This is what the Holy Spirit revealed in Stephens life, what could only be described as a foretaste of the glorious future to come. So, Stephen knew the promise of God was certain and therefore he had no reason to use his power to create any other outcome than to let his life be a witness to the faithfulness of the promises of God.

         What this story of the church’s first martyr, the story of Stephen, does then is to cause us to ask ourselves just what is it that drives our life, our own power or the faith we have in God? Does our life witness to the fact that God is bringing about a kingdom that will out last every other kingdom, that we have nothing to be afraid of because we know that even though we may not see this kingdom in the here and now we have the certainty that God is the God who most assuredly brings into existence those things which at present do not exist?  This is what Stephen had placed his faith upon, the unshakeable certainty of the promise of God. This is why he would not be shaken when faced with suffering and death because he knew that as this suffering and death had happened to Jesus it was always a possibility for those who followed him. Yet this was not all because as Jesus had also conquered the grave so too those who placed their faith in Jesus would also rise from the dead in the final resurrection and as Daniel records these saints, the holy ones of God, these too shall serve the Son of Man before the throne of of the Ancient of Days. Knowing the certainty of this promise we, like Stephen, can say let this world do what it may because the best is yet to come. To God be the glory! Amen.